Following a successful summit during the AUTOBEST Ultimate Test, the 31-strong AUTOBEST jury has decided the final winners for its highly regarded industry awards. Using their insight and expertise of the European automotive industry, the jurors voted for the COMPANYBEST 2025, SMARTBEST 2025 and SAFETYBEST 2025 winners to join the AUTOBEST Hall of Fame.
‘COMPANYBEST 2025’ Award goes to BYD, which has become the fastest growing car company in the world. Currently, it is globally number 1 brand of `plug in`s` (both EV and plug-in hybrids) but is rapidly rising to the general rankings of the car industry. The sky seems to be the limit for BYD. It is spectacular how it develops in terms of technologies, but also new models, and even new brands under the BYD company umbrella. Last year, as a first participation in AUTOBEST Best Buy Car of Europe, BYD Dolphin was the winner, the first car made in China to win the coveted European accolade. Now is the time for BYD to win the title for the best car company in the world, uniquely voted by the AUTOBEST Jury members.
Stellantis wins the `SMARTBEST 2025` that goes to the company offering the most advanced connected integrated on-board tech on the market for its deployment of the CHATGPT system into their cars, starting with the brands DS, Peugeot and soon Opel/Vauxhall. Voice assistants are becoming increasingly commonplace in new cars, but some can still struggle to understand spoken commands. This is where the ChatGPT generative artificial intelligence system successfully integrated by Stellantis comes in. It uses language models to enhance voice assistants with natural, fluid interactions – and by learning from huge amounts of data, it can answer a much wider variety of questions to provide accurate, relevant information. By being the first to integrate it in Europe, Stellantis has taken the lead in this innovative AI technology, which is already helping make operating today’s cars easier.
‘SAFETYBEST 2025’ Award goes to CYBEX Airbag Car Seat. Over 80% of children are placed forward-facing in car seats before the age of two, despite safety recommendations advising against this. Thanks to Cybex’s efforts and investment in developing new technologies for children’s road safety, the Anoris T2 i-Size features groundbreaking innovations such as an integrated full-body airbag within an adjustable impact shield. The airbag technology integrated in the Anoris T2 i-Size provides up to 50% more safety in the event of a frontal impact than conventional forward-facing child seats with a 5-point harness system*. In a front crash, the C-shaped airbag inflates to protect the head, neck and body in milliseconds – faster than the blink of an eye. These advancements earned it the prestigious SAFETYBEST 2025 award. *Compared to a forward-facing child seat in a frontal impact. Results of internal tests according to the criteria of the ADAC frontal crash test 2023.
The AUTOBEST Ultimate Test, also known as #UTEST, took place over two days in Teesdorf, near Vienna, Austria. It is the final part of the detailed journey in deciding the AUTOBEST Best Buy Car of Europe 2025. Every juror attended, ensuring more than 665 million European motorists had a voice. This year, five cars were thoroughly tested by the jurors on both road and proving ground: Citroen C3, Dacia Duster, MG3, Opel / Vauxhall Frontera and Renault Symbioz. The winner of the AUTOBEST Best Buy Car of Europe 2025 will be announced around December 15, 2024.
Earlier this year, the 23rd edition of the AUTOBEST Awards Gala took place on May 23rd in in the heart of Luxembourg, at the prestigious Leweck Resort, a venue famous for its hospitality and heritage, passed down through generations (https://autobest.org/the-autobest-organisation-celebrated-the-23rd-edition-of-the-gala-awards-in-luxembourg/)
Over two decades, the AUTOBEST Gala Awards has become the key event on the motoring calendar, with world-class artistic content and a unique Grand Finale for the AUTOBEST Award. More information is available at www.autobest.org
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About AUTOBEST
The AUTOBEST organisation was created in 2001 with the revolutionary concept of finding the ‘Best Buy Car’ available on the European market. For a car to become the AUTOBEST winner, it must represent the best offer for most European car users. Price, service network, spare parts distribution and versatility are the most important criteria in the voting process. Design and new technologies are also becoming a more critical factor for voting. AUTOBEST uses a transparent voting system, with a complex matrix of 13 criteria to decide the winner.
The AUTOBEST jury members represents 31+1 European countries (Russia remains suspended for the time being) – the largest independent motoring jury in Europe and in the world by the number of represented countries. The AUTOBEST jury pays close attention to the automotive industry’s efforts. Investments, new automotive job opportunities, funds for green cars and technologies, the support for different regions of Europe are all carefully checked by the jury. New in-car technologies and connectivity are also under scrutiny.
Contact:
Andreea Oglan
pr@autobest.org
